Nevada billionaire and Sands Las Vegas CEO Sheldon Adelson once proposed the U.S. nuke Iran, and donates to Republican Party candidates who share his uncritical and unwavering support for Israel. He has lobbied to expand the Interstate Wire Act to outlaw all online gambling instead of just sports betting. He is currently lobbying for a special session of the Nevada Legislature this summer to approve his scheme to bring the Oakland Raiders to Las Vegas by an increase in the hotel room tax. If the new Las Vegas football stadium is such a great idea, why doesn't Mr. Adelson use some more of his own considerable fortune to build it? [continues 494 words]
Civil asset forfeiture (CAF) goes back to our Revolutionary period. Government licensed privateers who raided British merchant ships. Privateers were not pirates. Privateers were licensed by the state to attack and seize enemy assets. Pirates are non-state outlaws who band together to seize any assets they want. There is a lot to like in pirate culture, as any fan of Starz' series Black Sails will attest. But there is even more to like about privateers. Privateers had to follow strict rules that limited collateral damage. [continues 527 words]
A federal judge recently sentenced a 31-year-old man with no criminal record to life in prison for running a website. Russ Ulbricht ran the Silk Road on the dark net. Many don't know that Google-style search engines only sweep 30 percent of the internet. The other 70 percent is accessible on The Onion Router (TOR) through a freely downloadable browser. The dark web is perfectly legal, used for legitimate research purposes. The dark web is anonymous, as the digital packets are rerouted over and over through servers in multiple nations. [continues 501 words]
Nevada's implementation of the law requiring medical marijuana establishment (MME) licensing is so far plagued by hidden financing, proxy companies, questionable campaign contributions and forbidden crossovers between gambling licensees and dispensary ownership in Clark County. The problem is that the state has capped the number of dispensaries by county, has required enormous capital to apply, and the licenses are awarded by politicians. What could possibly go wrong? When the state artificially creates a market, rather than markets creating themselves, there will be corruption. When the number of legalized outlets is capped by government, and only government can approve new applications, the opportunity for start up competition is capped as well. Without competition, there will be a few entrenched special interests who will dominate the industry. Nevada promised transparency in the selection process, but so far the process has been opaque. [continues 466 words]
If you put a rat in a cage with a lever that dispenses a drug like heroin, the rat will keep pressing the lever to get the drug and forget to eat. Everyone knows that, but did you know that if you also put some other rats in with him and a wheel and other things to do, the rat will eat and play instead? The original rat experiment is offered as proof that drug addiction is a disease. The disease theory of addiction holds that addiction is a brain disease that is incurable and can only be survived by total abstinence. The preferred treatment for the so-called brain disease is not medical, but a spiritual 12-step program that requires the addict place himself in the hands of a higher power because he is helpless in his addiction! [continues 469 words]
The Food and Drug Administration seeks to reschedule hydrocodone as a Schedule II Drug instead of Schedule III. This means those suffering chronic pain will have to pay for more doctor visits to get a written prescription. Phone-in renewals will be banned. The reason given is that hydrocodone is "abused" by those who want to enjoy synthetic codeine. Scamming scripts and buying on the street enable some to party on the pills. In 2006, Nevadans were the No. 1 users in America per capita of hydrocodone, sold combined with other drugs in brand names like Vicodin or Lortab. Nevada is still within the top five states for illicit pill use. [continues 490 words]
The Libertarian Party of Nevada supports Initiative Petition No. 3, the initiative to decriminalize up to one ounce of marijuana for personal use in the privacy of the home. Nevada is well-known for its tolerance of behaviors that do no harm to others but that could only harm the individuals indulging in them, if anyone is harmed at all. Nevada has been a haven over the years for those seeking to gamble, to pay for sexual favors, to get a quick divorce, to seek alternative medications. [continues 275 words]
